[bentom187]

Guilty until you're proven innocent. Watch out people ,cover your bases. Be safe.

Woman experiences DEA raid at 5:00AM after shopping for indoor gardening supplies

"They had a gun pointed at me when they said, 'Are there any illegal substances in your house?'"

SHOREWOOD, IL — A woman became the subject of an investigation when she was observed shopping for indoor gardening supplies at a hydroponics store. Police and federal agents began staking out the woman’s home, sifting through her garbage, and monitoring her electricity usage. The investigation prompted gun-wielding agents to show up in her bedroom in the middle of the night.

The subject of this investigation was Angela Kirking, a 46-year-old artist who does face-painting for children at local fairs. She enjoys indoor gardening and grows a hibiscus plant for her consumption. She shops for fertilizer and supplies at a local shop called Midwest Hydroganics.

It so happened that police and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) had been staking out Midwest Hydroganics to attempt to bust citizens who grow unauthorized plants without government permission. Angela Kirking was witnessed exiting the store “carrying a green plastic bag containing unknown items” on September 17, 2013, the Shorewood Patch reported. The bag contained organic fertilizer for her hibiscus flowers.

Based only on the woman’s shopping habits, an investigation was launched that lasted nearly a month.

Police began spying on Kirking’s utility bills. They discovered that her electricity usage was “consistently higher” than her neighbors. Officers were then sent to sneak around the outside of her property at 4:15 a.m. to dig through her trash. According to The Shorewood Patch, the garbage-pickers reportedly found “multiple green plant stems” that smelled strongly of “green cannabis.”

This evidence was enough to make the police and prosecutors believe that her home may contain the forbidden cannabis plant. A few days later, a paramilitary team of plant enforcers was assembled to arrest Mrs. Kirking.

Police tacticians decided that the most effective way to arrest the artist would be to wake her up at 5:00 a.m. with gun-toting strangers in her bedroom. That’s what Mrs. Kirking awoke to on October 11th, 2013.


“They had a gun pointed at me when they said, ‘Are there any illegal substances in your house?’” Kirking recalled.

DEA agents and Shorewood police officers were standing over her bed. Apparently they had waited for her husband to leave for work at 4:50 a.m. and then made him let them in the home.

The Shorewood Patch reported that the agents confiscated her computer, some books, and a few grams of a plant that they claimed was marijuana. These crimes amounted to misdemeanor charges, and Mrs. Kirking was taken away in handcuffs.

Of course, the investigation was based on rubbish. Kirking’s attorney, Jeff Tomczak, is trying to get the search warrant voided because of its shaky pretexts.

Indoor gardeners are frequently the targets of police raids. John Kohler, an indoor gardening advocate who runs GrowingYourGreens.com, had his home invaded by police because he grew vegetables in his bathroom. A Kansas family who grew a garden in their basement suffered a no-knock raid under nearly the same pretexts as Mrs. Kirkling.

[GrowerGoneWild]

And the DEA thought it was raidworthy?.. . What BS. The thought of officers having a gun drawn and the possiblity of a negligent discharge, and somebody injured or killed over some plants pisses me off.

Thanks for the heads up.. I live in the US.. and even a few days ago I was victim of illegal search. I have been keeping a very low profile the last few years, and only recently have I made a comeback. I was super paranoid going to the growshop, and I see that it wasnt a bad practice to do that..

[Agaricus]

What a farce. Not only the porkers but the so-called judge who issued a warrant with no evidence of wrongdoing. As in, the stems in the trash apparently weren't proven to be cannabis.

It still baffles me how these kinds of tactics can be condoned in a supposedly free country.

[MJBadger]

It still baffles me how these kinds of tactics can be condoned in a supposedly free country.

What amazes me is that practically every adult can have a gun but a plant brings the most armed loonies around in as fast as possible . If the stems weren't Canna the whole thing is tits-up . Is there any chance of her suing the police/DEA , can it be done ?

[TheArchitect]

FUCK THE PIGS!

These assholes should be waterboarded and beaten with rubber hoses before death by a thousand cuts.

[TheRealHash]

Stereotypes hurt everyone. Not all L.E.O. are assholes.

Sounds like bad police work and bad luck to me.

[MIway]

gosh, wouldnt it be nice if they went after white collar criminals w such zeal...

this country is depressing. hope they can sue the city & finds a conscientious judge

[Dropped Cat]

Yeah, let's form a protest.

Outrage? Yup.

Action? Nah, too busy.

My post in this thread is pretty much as far as I'm willing
to show dissent about the para militarization of the
country I live in.

That, and a hearty tsk, tsk.

[bentom187]

Originally Posted by MJBadger

What amazes me is that practically every adult can have a gun but a plant brings the most armed loonies around in as fast as possible .

Freedom should not have stipulations, guns or weed, or any drugs and property ownership, they are all rights that come with the associated individual responsibilities. We are all adults and don't need to be told what to do.

Sorry, this sort of hypocritical stance is sort of a pet peeve. "Rule's for thee but none for me" . Its sort of how the drug war got started.

[Dropped Cat]

The USA is quickly becoming the Florida of the Earth.

ugh.